


Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

by tru3p1ayaZz



Series: Totally Not a Family Man Ripoff [1]
Category: Counter-Strike (Video Games), Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: CS:GO to be specific, Established Relationship, F/M, OCs are present as background characters, Pro Gamer Chiaki Headcanon, eSports, pretty sure no one's combined these two games before
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tru3p1ayaZz/pseuds/tru3p1ayaZz
Summary: There was a time when Asian Counter-Strike was seen as a punchline, a clearly inferior region that would never amount to much in CS:GO, destined to be cannon fodder for the big boys.And then Passion Gaming happened.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Nanami Chiaki
Series: Totally Not a Family Man Ripoff [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935940
Kudos: 5





	Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, the title for this one was a little too obvious. Please excuse my shameless lack of creativity.

To someone who follows professional Counter-Strike, the majors need no explanation. 

However, for the uninitiated…

The NFL has the Super Bowl. The NHL has the Stanley Cup Finals. League of Legends has Worlds. Dota 2 has The International.

And Counter-Strike has the majors.

They have been hosted by many tournament organizers over the years. They have taken place in different countries across the world. The prize pool has gone up over time, along with the spectacle of the event and the amount of teams able to attend. But one thing about the majors remains constant: they are the biggest tournaments in all of Counter-Strike.

To win a major is the dream and the crowning achievement of every professional player. To win a major is to cement your place in the game forever. To win a major nets you and your team $500,000. To win a major is, for some truly exceptional players, a way to get their name into the conversation as the GOAT.

For players like NEO, GeT_RiGhT and f0rest, storied veterans who will inevitably pop up in any discussion about Counter-Strike’s GOAT, their claims to the #1 spot are solidified with their incredible longevity, significant stretches of being the best player in the world, and their absolutely loaded trophy cases- which, yes, contain major titles from both CS:GO and CS 1.6.

For players like s1mple, ZywOo, and EliGE, a major title is the only thing missing from their incredible resumes.

It should go without saying, but winning a major is not easy. In fact, simply qualifying for one is a Herculean task due to the scene constantly expanding, resulting in new, upcoming talents popping up out of the woodwork. Sometimes, you’ll even see absolute legends of the game scrapping it out just for a seat at the table. 

The subject of our story, Chiaki “Nami” Nanami, falls into the first category of new talent.

_MLG Seattle Asian Qualifier_

_December 8, 2021_

_Tokyo, Japan_

It’s Map 3 of the semifinals between Passion Gaming and Red Wolves Gaming. The map in question is Mirage, and Passion are up 15-14.

This could be the breakthrough moment for Passion Gaming, a young team that’s been rising rapidly through the ranks of Asian CS- assuming that they can win this round.

Okay, we need a little bit of context to explain the situation. Let’s just hit the rewind button here...

It’s no secret that the Asian CS:GO scene is nowhere near the level of Europe or even North America. However, while it’s true that Asia is much more prominent in other esports, like League of Legends, they are not entirely irrelevant in Counter-Strike.

For a long time, Asian CS:GO has been mostly dominated by the likes of TyLoo and Vici Gaming. These teams were never good enough to make any significant impact on international LAN events, but the fact that they were even there proved that they were the best teams in a weak field. This is what people know Asian CS:GO as- an inferior region that occasionally makes an appearance on the big stage when the tournament format dictates that there must be at least one team from China or Korea, sending out one or two teams to get smacked around by the real contenders and be eliminated in the group stage.

Passion Gaming have been around since 2015, but they didn’t do anything notable in CS:GO until about half a year ago. The team’s front office quickly realized that their current roster had maxed out their potential, so they blew it up. The only member that wasn’t removed was their support player- Lee “SoNg” Yumeki. He had always been a good teammate, willing to do whatever the team asked of him, and consistently put up solid numbers for someone who wasn’t put in a position to do so.

Shortly after blowing it up, Passion Gaming got to work assembling it’s new roster. Their first pickup was a new In Game Leader known as Ryu “Talon” Taniguchi. He wasn’t very experienced, but he had a great mind for the game and they were trying to get younger anyways. While he didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard or have the best aim, he wasn’t a total liability like many IGLs were. 

Their new coach ended up being a good friend of Talon’s (who he personally recommended that the team pick up), and someone else who also had a good understanding of CS:GO- Shuma “Debauchery” Hokama. In addition, the positive energy that he brought made him a natural candidate for the job, regardless of his past friendship with Talon.

Next, they signed an up-and-coming entry fragger- Ishikawa “quirky” Maruoka- an extremely aggressive player more than willing to take aim duels and create space for his teammates. He would also play the rotator spots on their CT sides. Not happy with how things were going on his old team, Red Wolves Gaming, he jumped at the offer that Passion gave him.

Then they brought on one of the most exciting prospects in the region, a secret to the rest of the world but quickly becoming a proven commodity in Japan- an AWPer named Ryo “Barricade” Shogo. He had incredible reflexes, and an uncanny ability of knowing when to take an aggressive peek and when to be more passive and simply hold an angle. He also made sure to constantly switch up his spots and not be predictable- another mark of a great AWPer.

And then came the biggest wildcard of them all.

Chiaki “Nami” Nanami had been an established name in Japan for a while now. The catch is that it’s been as a streamer and content creator rather than a pro gamer. But while she’s never gone pro in Counter-Strike, or any other esport for that matter, there’s no denying the talent she has. There were a laundry list of pros and cons to bringing Chiaki onboard.

The positives: she’s absurdly talented, and if they could tap into that potential they would have a bonafide stud on their hands- a passive player who likes to be the lurker or 4th person in on T side, and a lockdown site anchor on the CT side. Her crisp aim, and more importantly, her calm nature and incredible game sense mean that she’s practically built to win clutches. As an added bonus, she’s also a hybrid player- someone effective with both of the main rifles (M4 and AK) and the AWP. Chiaki is not a primary AWPer, but she’s had her fair share of highlights with it over the years. She’s also a really good pistol player as well. On the business side of things, she’s already a big name streamer and having her on the team would generate a lot of interest- which could potentially lead to more jerseys and other merchandise being sold.

The negatives: she may be the complete package, but opening it might be something of a problem. As mentioned before, she’s never been on a pro team. This also means that she’s never played on LAN, which is quite a different experience from playing online. There are countless examples in CS of “onliners”- teams or players who look like absolute gods online but then turn into diarrhea on LAN. Speaking of opening up, that’s another problem- she’s known to be very quiet and reserved. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being an introvert, but it could turn into a serious problem if she doesn’t communicate enough with her teammates in-game, which is just as important as anything in CS. And sticking to the subject of attitude, does she have the right one to play on a pro team? She is, once again, completely unproven, and also currently attending Hope’s Peak Academy, a prestigious Japanese school that only accepts the best of the best. Who even knows if she’ll want to join Passion Gaming with the amount of opportunities she’ll see in the future, not to mention the opportunities that she’s currently taking advantage of now? And while having her on the team will attract a lot of attention, not all of it is going to be positive. In fact, most of it won’t be. Gamers are known for… we’re going to hold back our language here and say that they don’t treat women all that well. To be fair, some skepticism would be warranted, since female CS pros (as of now) simply aren’t on the level of their male counterparts. Is Chiaki truly the exception, or is she just a flash in the pan?

For many teams, there would be a long discussion about signing Chiaki “Nami” Nanami.

For Passion Gaming, there was no hesitation. The front office saw the situation like this: they were already blowing it up and trying to get younger, so why not take a chance on the boom or bust prospect? If it worked, they’d have their face of the franchise. If it didn’t, then they could always look elsewhere for young talent and keep her on as a streamer. They contacted Chiaki almost immediately after reading up on her profile, and it was just a question of whether or not she would join. 

Chiaki thought about their offer for a long time. She talked it over with her friends, family and teachers for a solid week. After a lot of deliberation, she reached a decision. 

Chiaki “Nami” Nanami joined Passion Gaming on a one year contract, and would attend classes online during her time with the team. Her decision was supported wholeheartedly by all of her close friends and loved ones.

The new Passion Gaming showed immediate promise, securing spots for a number of regional and international LANs via online qualifiers. 

And then, to no one’s surprise, they got their dicks kicked in when they ended up playing against European and North American competition for the first time. They’d do slightly better at the regional events, but it took them a while to really gel together.

Eventually, their map pool expanded quite far. Passion Gaming’s best maps were Inferno and Mirage, followed closely by Dust II, Train and Overpass. They were merely okay on Vertigo, and made Nuke their permaban.

Then the developing talent started to emerge. Barricade and SoNg were playing as well as advertised. quirky had great aim, but was also one of the most inconsistent members of the team- which, to be fair, is a given when you consider his very aggressive playstyle. Talon was often their bottom fragger, but he was almost never a liability individually and pulled his own weight more often than not. And as for Nami? She’s been a revelation for them- already a solid contributor, she’s well on her way to taking the next step and becoming a superstar.

Not to say the team has no flaws, but their development is well ahead of schedule. The position they’re currently in at the Asian qualifier for the next major, MLG Seattle, proves it.

Okay, now that we’re caught up, time to explain the current situation. Let’s just put this back up here again to remind you what we’re dealing with…

_MLG Seattle Asian Qualifier_

_December 8, 2021, 2:32 PM_

_Tokyo, Japan_

It’s Map 3 of the semifinals between Passion Gaming and Red Wolves Gaming. The map in question is Mirage, and Passion are up 15-14.

This could be the breakthrough moment for Passion Gaming, a young team that’s been rising quite rapidly through the ranks of Asian CS- assuming that they can win this round.

So here’s the funny thing about regional major qualifiers- the finals are not the most important match of the tournament. In fact, the finals are actually the least important match of the tournament- every other match in the group stage and playoffs alike has higher stakes than the finals, and that includes the semifinals. It’s not totally irrelevant, since seeding and a bigger cut of the prize money are on the line, but at that point both teams have qualified for the major. The main objective has been completed.

Here’s how it works: if you win in the semifinals, you go to the finals and secure your spot at the next major. If not, you get kicked down to the third place match, where the loser goes home and the winner doesn’t even directly qualify for the big event- instead, they attend the Play-In Round. It’s a mini tournament featuring the four teams who finished third in their regional qualifier event. Of those four teams, two of them will advance to the major.

Yeah. No pressure at all.

This Best of 3 has been a nailbiter. The first map, Overpass, went to the Red Wolves in a tight 16-13 game. Passion just ran out of gas on their T Side at the end, and Barricade had an unusually bad game, going 10-22. The second map, Inferno, was a 19-15 overtime win for Passion Gaming. Barricade recovered and the entire team was dialed in. With both teams winning their respective map picks, we now find ourselves here. 15-14 on Map 3, with a spot at Seattle on the line. Red Wolves are on the T Side, while Passion Gaming are on the CT Side.

Passion might be in the lead right now, but they’re actually in a bad spot. They had a 15-10 lead, but the Red Wolves are trying to complete a late comeback to push this game into overtime. If Passion Gaming don’t close it out here, they will probably lose the game in overtime due to the momentum that the Red Wolves currently have. It would be a devastating loss for a team that had been in control for pretty much the whole way through- especially when you consider the stakes involving the third place match.

Passion Gaming have just burned their last timeout in the last round of regulation. Both teams will have a full buy heading into it. Let’s see how this plays out.

_Passion Gaming Booth_

“Do you want us to double AWP here, Ryu? I can drop ‘cause I have 7K,” SoNg asked, looking to his left at his IGL, sitting in the center.

“No, don’t. Listen, they’ll probably run a default or take mid control, so we’re gonna try and cheese this one- let’s do our mid stack, okay?” Talon called out. They all knew what he meant when he said that.

“Buy everything, guys. No reason to save any money here,” Debauchery chimed in. “Just stay calm and hit your shots- they haven’t seen it before, so it should work.”

“Hey hey- do you want me to go first up mid ramp? I have the spawn for it,” Nami asked.

“Yeah, do it,” Talon replied. “Ishikawa, you’re gonna flash from top connector once the mid smoke goes down, then you’re gonna peek top mid with Chiaki. Spray the smoke. I’ll peek from short. Ryo, just watch underground. Lee, I need you to go up mid ramp and be ready to trade in case Chiaki dies, okay?” 

The team collectively responded in agreement as the timeout ended, and freezetime began to wind down.

_9, 8, 7…_

Normally, you wouldn’t see every single CT buy a kit and a helmet. But when it’s the last round, there’s no reason to save any money. They had also upgraded their pistols, just in case. Barricade had a Five-SeveN, Nami and quirky both had Deagles, and SoNg and Talon both bought CZ75s.

_6, 5, 4…_

There was nothing but silence in the Passion Gaming booth as freezetime went down even further.

_3, 2, 1…_

And the round begins.

Passion start by sending four towards window room and the last player, quirky, towards A. Talon breaks the vent and is able to complete the jump into ladder room- a critical headstart, since he’s able to get to short before Red Wolves can. Barricade drops out and immediately posts up on underground, positioning himself so that he isn’t exposed to top mid in case both of his teammates die. Nami and SoNg both stare at the wall on the mid ramp, waiting for quirky, currently at bottom stairs, to flash them in. 

The setup is there. Each member holds their positions, not daring to move an inch or make a single sound.

And then, fifteen incredibly long seconds later, it happens.

Before the top mid smoke blooms, Nami and SoNg both call out that it’s been thrown. In response, quirky throws his flash up high.

As that takes place, a player on Red Wolves slow peeks underground, not expecting an AWP. 

Bad move. It’s an easy shot for Barricade, resulting in a 5v4 for Passion.

Then, as the top mid smoke blooms, the flash that quirky throws also goes off, blinding all of the Red Wolves mid players. They never stood a chance.

Completely blind, the most important round of the game turns into an easy cleanup. Nami sprays down two, Talon gets the third, and now it’s a 5v1.

Most of the time, you tend to relax in a situation like this. But not if it’s 15-14 with a spot at the major on the line.

“Bomb’s top mid, just hold it and don’t overpeek! I’ve got the B flank covered,” Talon called out, raising his voice.

“I’m holding A flank from bottom stairs right now,” quirky said. The other three players were at top mid, watching the bomb.

They wait, and eventually, with 30 seconds left in the round, the last Red Wolves player makes himself known. He walks through T Spawn from the palace to try and get the bomb, and when he peeks out, he is instantly killed thanks to a triple peek from Nami, SoNg and Barricade. In a fitting end, the last kill goes to Nami.

It’s over. Passion Gaming have qualified for the next major, MLG Seattle. It’s the first major that the organization, along with the coach and players, will attend.

There’s nothing coming out of the Passion Gaming booth other than pure happiness. The headsets are off, and the six of them are jumping up and down, wrapped up in a circle- not quite a group hug, but the feelings are the same.

Eventually, they leave the booth to shake hands with the other team. After they’re done with the handshake line, quirky looks straight at the cameraman and gives him a reddit-worthy soundbite.

“We’re going to Seattle, motherfuckers!” 

The rest of the day passes by in a blur- guess the cliche about time flying when you’re having fun really is true. Debauchery gives the team an inspiring speech about how they’ve come a long way while also reminding them that the grind doesn’t end here. Ownership then takes the team out for a nice dinner at an upscale restaurant of their choice as a reward for their success. As they’re enjoying the meal, Talon gets a waitress to take some Instagram-worthy pictures of the team candidly celebrating.

Later on that night, Chiaki gets a phone call from someone who never fails to make her happy- her boyfriend, Hajime Hinata.

“Hey, I saw the match results. Congratulations, Chiaki!”

“Aww, thanks. I’m glad you called.”

“You’ve been to America before, right?”

“Yeah, but this is my first time going to Seattle. I hear it’s a nice place- although the weather’s gonna be pretty miserable since the major takes place in January.”

“Ah, that sucks. Maybe you guys should’ve thrown the match so you wouldn’t have to deal with all the rain.”

“Haha, very funny. I’ll have to put you on hold- I’m getting a call from iBUYPOWER.”

“Heh. Anyways, I’ve gotta go soon. Can I just ask two things while you’re there?”

“Don’t worry Hajime, I’ll get you a souvenir.”

“Yeah, that. Now here’s my other question- can you give the other teams a chance? I mean, let’s be honest here- these guys aren’t ready for the Ultimate Gamer. The world is not ready to see you drop 30 bombs at the major.”

Chiaki couldn’t help but smile. Some of her vernacular had started to rub off on Hajime.

“Heh. I’ll try to go easy on them. No promises, though. Good night, Hajime. Love you.”

“I love you too. Good night, Chiaki.” 

Chiaki then hangs up and lies down on the comfortable queen sized hotel bed, thoroughly exhausted. 

_Not like that’s a bad thing right now, though,_ Chiaki thinks to herself as she looks out of the window at the gorgeous city view. It was the good kind of exhaustion that came after a long but productive and satisfying day, capped off with her having a good time with close friends.

 _I could get used to this feeling,_ Chiaki muses as she drifts off to sleep in her hotel room, satisfied with today’s results.

And when she wakes up, she’s in her cottage on Jabberwock Island.

**Author's Note:**

> So there were several things that served as inspiration/guidelines for writing this story.
> 
> The first half of this chapter, where I explained how Chiaki and the rest of Passion Gaming got to where they are now, is based on Secret Base's (formerly SB Nation) Rewinder series. If you're wondering what it is, it's a series that goes over iconic sports moments and looks back at previous events that have transpired to lead up to the moment, adding context to the situation and explaining why the moments they're talking about are so huge. It's a pretty cool series and I recommend that you check it out.
> 
> I happen to follow the professional Counter-Strike scene somewhat closely. I'm not going to say that I'm an expert or anything, but of all the esports out there, it's the one that I understand the most. A lot of what you see is just knowledge that I've gathered from playing and watching the game for several years. I highly recommend that you start following the scene if you aren't already- it might be confusing at first with all of the events that take place, and its exacerbated by the fact that everything's being played online right now due to the coronavirus, but I can tell you right now that the game makes for an incredible esport- there's a reason why it's still going strong to this day. Just wait until they start holding LAN events again. Also (this is no disrespect to other esports like DOTA 2 and Starcraft 2, by the way) it's one of the easier and less complicated games to watch. It's not all that difficult to grasp at least a basic understanding of the game, although it is, as you can guess, incredibly hard to master. 
> 
> One of my headcanons is that Chiaki is either a pro gamer, a successful streamer, or both in this case. There are many examples of this playing out in real life- Shroud is one of the biggest streamers in the world today, and he used to be a pro CS:GO player for Cloud9. He had an up and down, but overall respectable career. Some other examples are IWDominate and Imaqtpie- former LoL pros who are big streamers and content creators nowadays. And of course, there are many active pro gamers today that host very successful streams.
> 
> So what exactly am I cooking up here? Well... read on to find out! Assuming, of course, that you'd want to subject yourself to more of my shitty writing that thinks it's smarter than it actually is. Not saying this as an insult to the series or fanbase, but you'd have to be a bit of a masochist to really get into Danganronpa. With that said, there's a chance that you might already know where this is going based on the series title. I'll leave it at that.


End file.
